Can Texas Tech put Texas in an embarrassing Big 12 baseball spot?

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The postseason push in college baseball has arrived and it's a dramatic time to be tracking the Red Raiders with their 22-26 overall record and 7-14 Big 12 record.

Believe it or not, if the Big 12 tournament started today, Texas Tech would be in it as the eighth and final team. Texas (24-22, 6-15) would be the lone team out as Iowa State does not participate in baseball.

The Red Raiders and Longhorns will go into their respective final Big 12 series next week with Texas Tech leading Texas by a game and owning the tiebreaker after a series win in Austin earlier this season. Both teams aren't scheduled to play Big 12 games this weekend.

If Texas Tech can win two games against Baylor in Lubbock between May 16 and May 18, that will likely be enough to clinch the eighth spot. Texas, meanwhile, will be playing TCU in Fort Worth on those dates and must outperform the Red Raiders by a game in the Big 12 win column.

"I'm glad we have one game (in hand)," head coach Tim Tadlock said. "I'd like to have two or three and would have liked to have it closed out by now. That's kind of where we're at right now.

"But really, as far as that all goes, if you're focus goes to one game or what they're doing, what we're going to do, we've really got to focus on the little things."

Texas Tech is looking better than it had earlier in the season. Prior to a loss Saturday, the Red Raiders had defeated three ranked teams in three games dating back to a win against No. 11 Oklahoma on April 28.

It defeated No. 17 New Mexico, 12-8, last week after dropping a 10-3 decision to the Lobos earlier in the year. The club then took the first game in the three-game Big 12 series against No. 19 Oklahoma State, 5-2, before suffering a blowout loss Saturday and a tough 3-0 loss Sunday.

The goal now is just staying ahead of Texas and making the Big 12 tournament.

"College baseball is different," Tadlock said. "If we're a college basketball team, we're going at best to the NIT right now. Whereas college baseball is a unique deal. You get into postseason and you get on a streak, you can play as long as anybody.